1.
Geographic coordinate system
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A geographic coordinate system is a coordinate system used in geography that enables every location on Earth to be specified by a set of numbers, letters or symbols. The coordinates are chosen such that one of the numbers represents a vertical position. A common choice of coordinates is latitude, longitude and elevation, to specify a location on a two-dimensional map requires a map projection. The invention of a coordinate system is generally credited to Eratosthenes of Cyrene. Ptolemy credited him with the adoption of longitude and latitude. Ptolemys 2nd-century Geography used the prime meridian but measured latitude from the equator instead. Mathematical cartography resumed in Europe following Maximus Planudes recovery of Ptolemys text a little before 1300, in 1884, the United States hosted the International Meridian Conference, attended by representatives from twenty-five nations. Twenty-two of them agreed to adopt the longitude of the Royal Observatory in Greenwich, the Dominican Republic voted against the motion, while France and Brazil abstained. France adopted Greenwich Mean Time in place of local determinations by the Paris Observatory in 1911, the latitude of a point on Earths surface is the angle between the equatorial plane and the straight line that passes through that point and through the center of the Earth. Lines joining points of the same latitude trace circles on the surface of Earth called parallels, as they are parallel to the equator, the north pole is 90° N, the south pole is 90° S. The 0° parallel of latitude is designated the equator, the plane of all geographic coordinate systems. The equator divides the globe into Northern and Southern Hemispheres, the longitude of a point on Earths surface is the angle east or west of a reference meridian to another meridian that passes through that point. All meridians are halves of great ellipses, which converge at the north and south poles, the prime meridian determines the proper Eastern and Western Hemispheres, although maps often divide these hemispheres further west in order to keep the Old World on a single side. The antipodal meridian of Greenwich is both 180°W and 180°E, the combination of these two components specifies the position of any location on the surface of Earth, without consideration of altitude or depth. The grid formed by lines of latitude and longitude is known as a graticule, the origin/zero point of this system is located in the Gulf of Guinea about 625 km south of Tema, Ghana. To completely specify a location of a feature on, in, or above Earth. Earth is not a sphere, but a shape approximating a biaxial ellipsoid. It is nearly spherical, but has an equatorial bulge making the radius at the equator about 0. 3% larger than the radius measured through the poles, the shorter axis approximately coincides with the axis of rotation
2.
Park
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A park is an area of natural, semi-natural, or planted space set aside for human enjoyment and recreation or for the protection of wildlife or natural habitats. It may consist of areas, rocks, soil, and trees. In North America, many parks have fields for playing such as soccer, baseball and football. Many parks have trails for walking, biking and other activities, some parks are built adjacent to bodies of water or watercourses and may comprise a beach or boat dock area. Often, the smallest parks are in areas, where a park may take up only a city block or less. Urban parks often have benches for sitting and may contain picnic tables, the largest parks can be vast natural areas of hundreds of thousands of square kilometres, with abundant wildlife and natural features such as mountains and rivers. In many large parks, camping in tents is allowed with a permit, many natural parks are protected by law, and users may have to follow restrictions. Large national and sub-national parks are typically overseen by a ranger or a park warden. Large parks may have areas for canoeing and hiking in the months and, in some northern hemisphere countries. The first parks were English deer parks, land set aside for hunting by royalty and they had walls or thick hedges around them to keep game animals in and people out. It was strictly forbidden for commoners to hunt animals in these deer parks and these game preserves evolved into landscaped parks set around mansions and country houses from the sixteenth century onwards. These may have served as hunting grounds but they also proclaimed the owners wealth, an aesthetic of landscape design began in these stately home parks where the natural landscape was enhanced by landscape architects such as Capability Brown. As cities became crowded, the hunting grounds became places for the public. With the Industrial revolution parks took on a new meaning as areas set aside to preserve a sense of nature in the cities, sporting activity came to be a major use for these urban parks. Areas of outstanding natural beauty were also set aside as national parks to prevent their being spoiled by uncontrolled development, in some parks or time periods with high pollen counts, parks tend to be avoided. Park design is influenced by the purpose and audience, as well as by the available land features. A park intended to provide recreation for children may include a playground, a park primarily intended for adults may feature walking paths and decorative landscaping. Specific features, such as riding trails, may be included to support specific activities, the design of a park may determine who is willing to use it
3.
Monterrey
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Monterrey, is the capital and largest city of the northeastern state of Nuevo León, in Mexico. The city is anchor to the third-largest metropolitan area in Mexico and is ranked as the ninth-largest city in the nation, Monterrey serves as a commercial center in the north of the country and is the base of many significant international corporations. It is one of the wealthiest cities in Mexico with a GDP PPP of 130.7 billion dollars in 2012, Monterreys GDP PPP per capita is of approximately 32,000 dollars. It is considered a Beta World City, cosmopolitan and competitive, rich in history and culture, Monterrey is considered one of the most developed cities in the entire country and often regarded as the most americanized in Mexico. A. Cuauhtémoc Moctezuma Brewery and Heineken, which features Norteño capital and Grupo ALFA, Monterrey is located in northeast Mexico, at the foothills of the Sierra Madre Oriental. The uninterrupted settlement of Monterrey starts in 1596, with its founding by Diego de Montemayor, in the years after the Mexican War of Independence, Monterrey became an important business center. With the establishment of Fundidora Monterrey, the city experienced a great industrial growth, prior to the European foundation of the city, there was no established nation state, and the population instead consisted of some indigenous semi-nomad groups. Carved stone and cave painting in surrounding mountains and caves have allowed historians to identify four major groups in present-day Monterrey, Azalapas, Huachichiles, Coahuiltecos and Borrados. In the 16th century, the valley in which Monterrey is located was known as the Extremadura Valley, in 1580 he arrived in the newly granted lands but it was not until 1582 that he established a settlement called San Luis Rey de Francia within present-day Monterrey. The New Kingdom of León extended westwards from the port of Tampico to the limits of Nueva Vizcaya, Monterrey was also the point of emigration from Europe, people from Portugal, Spain, France, Russia went to Monterrey seeing it as a good place to live in. Most of the Monterrey people descent from a creole Spanish heritage, during the years of Spanish rule, Monterrey remained a small city, and its population varied from a few hundred to only dozens. The city was a place that facilitated trade between San Antonio, Tampico and from Saltillo to the center of the country, tampicos port brought many products from Europe, while Saltillo concentrated the Northern Territories trade with the capital, Mexico City. San Antonio was the key trade point with the foreign colonies. In 1824, the New Kingdom of León became the State of Nuevo León, in 1846, the earliest large-scale engagement of the Mexican-American War took place in the city, known as the Battle of Monterrey. Mexican forces were forced to surrender but only after successfully repelling U. S. forces during the first few advances on the city, the battle inflicted high casualties on both sides, much of them resulting from hand-to-hand combat within the walls of the city center. Many of the generals in the Mexican War against France were natives of the city, including Mariano Escobedo, Juan Zuazua, during the last decade of the 19th century, the city of Monterrey was linked by railroad, which benefitted industry. In 1986, several games of the 1986 FIFA World Cup were hosted. In 1988, Hurricane Gilbert caused great damage to the city, the conference resulted in the adoption of the Monterrey Consensus, which has become one relevant reference point for international development and cooperation
4.
Mexico
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Mexico, officially the United Mexican States, is a federal republic in the southern half of North America. It is bordered to the north by the United States, to the south and west by the Pacific Ocean, to the southeast by Guatemala, Belize, and the Caribbean Sea, and to the east by the Gulf of Mexico. Covering almost two million square kilometers, Mexico is the sixth largest country in the Americas by total area, Mexico is a federation comprising 31 states and a federal district that is also its capital and most populous city. Other metropolises include Guadalajara, Monterrey, Puebla, Toluca, Tijuana, pre-Columbian Mexico was home to many advanced Mesoamerican civilizations, such as the Olmec, Toltec, Teotihuacan, Zapotec, Maya and Aztec before first contact with Europeans. In 1521, the Spanish Empire conquered and colonized the territory from its base in Mexico-Tenochtitlan, Three centuries later, this territory became Mexico following recognition in 1821 after the colonys Mexican War of Independence. The tumultuous post-independence period was characterized by instability and many political changes. The Mexican–American War led to the cession of the extensive northern borderlands, one-third of its territory. The Pastry War, the Franco-Mexican War, a civil war, the dictatorship was overthrown in the Mexican Revolution of 1910, which culminated with the promulgation of the 1917 Constitution and the emergence of the countrys current political system. Mexico has the fifteenth largest nominal GDP and the eleventh largest by purchasing power parity, the Mexican economy is strongly linked to those of its North American Free Trade Agreement partners, especially the United States. Mexico was the first Latin American member of the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development and it is classified as an upper-middle income country by the World Bank and a newly industrialized country by several analysts. By 2050, Mexico could become the fifth or seventh largest economy. The country is considered both a power and middle power, and is often identified as an emerging global power. Due to its culture and history, Mexico ranks first in the Americas. Mexico is a country, ranking fourth in the world by biodiversity. In 2015 it was the 9th most visited country in the world, Mexico is a member of the United Nations, the World Trade Organization, the G8+5, the G20, the Uniting for Consensus and the Pacific Alliance. Mēxihco is the Nahuatl term for the heartland of the Aztec Empire, namely, the Valley of Mexico, and its people, the Mexica and this became the future State of Mexico as a division of New Spain prior to independence. It is generally considered to be a toponym for the valley became the primary ethnonym for the Aztec Triple Alliance as a result. After New Spain won independence from Spain, representatives decided to name the new country after its capital and this was founded in 1524 on top of the ancient Mexica capital of Mexico-Tenochtitlan
5.
Economy of Mexico
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The economy of Mexico is the 15th largest in the world in nominal terms and the 11th largest by purchasing power parity, according to the International Monetary Fund. Since the 1994 crisis, administrations have improved the countrys macroeconomic fundamentals, Mexico was not significantly influenced by the 2002 South American crisis, and maintained positive, although low, rates of growth after a brief period of stagnation in 2001. However, Mexico was one of the Latin American nations most affected by the 2008 recession with its Gross Domestic Product contracting by more than 6% in that year. The Mexican economy has had an unprecedented macroeconomic stability, which has reduced inflation, in spite of this, enormous gaps remain between the urban and the rural population, the northern and southern states, and the rich and the poor. Some of the issues include the upgrade of infrastructure, the modernization of the tax system and labor laws. The tax revenues, all together 19.6 percent of GDP in 2013, are the lowest among the 34 OECD countries, the economy contains rapidly developing modern industrial and service sectors, with increasing private ownership. Recent administrations have expanded competition in ports, railroads, telecommunications, electricity generation, natural gas distribution and airports, with the aim of upgrading infrastructure. The most influential FTA is the North American Free Trade Agreement, which came into effect in 1994, in 2006, trade with Mexicos two northern partners accounted for almost 90% of its exports and 55% of its imports. Recently, the Congress of the Union approved important tax, pension and judicial reforms, Mexico had 15 companies in the Forbes Global 2000 list of the worlds largest companies in 2016. Mexicos labor force is 52.8 million as of the year 2015, the OECD and WTO both rank Mexican workers as the hardest-working in the world in terms of the amount of hours worked yearly, although profitability per man-hour remains low. Mexican president Porfirio Díaz brought unprecedented growth during the last quarter of the nineteenth century. This growth was accompanied by foreign investment and European immigration, the development of an efficient railroad network, annual economic growth between 1876 and 1910 averaged 3. 3%. The war itself left a harsh toll on the economy and population, the reconstruction of the country was to take place in the following decades. During this period the nation adopted the model of import substitution industrialization which protected and promoted the development of national industries. Mexico experienced a boom through which industries rapidly expanded their production. While population doubled from 1940 to 1970, GDP increased sixfold during the same period, growth while under the ISI model had reached its peak in the late 1960s. During the 1970s, the administrations of Echeverría and López Portillo, tried to include social development in their policies. In the period of 1981–1982 the international panorama changed abruptly, oil prices plunged, President de la Madrid was the first of a series of presidents that began to implement neoliberal reforms. 7%
6.
Bankruptcy
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Bankruptcy is a legal status of a person or other entity that cannot repay the debts it owes to creditors. In most jurisdictions, bankruptcy is imposed by a court order, Bankruptcy is not the only legal status that an insolvent person may have, and the term bankruptcy is therefore not a synonym for insolvency. In some countries, including the United Kingdom, bankruptcy is limited to individuals, in the United States, bankruptcy is applied more broadly to formal insolvency proceedings. In France, the cognate French word banqueroute is used solely for cases of fraudulent bankruptcy, in Ancient Greece, bankruptcy did not exist. If a man owed and he could not pay, he and his wife, children or servants were forced into debt slavery, until the creditor recouped losses through their physical labour. Many city-states in ancient Greece limited debt slavery to a period of five years, debt slaves had protection of life and limb, which regular slaves did not enjoy. However, servants of the debtor could be retained beyond that deadline by the creditor and were forced to serve their new lord for a lifetime. An exception to rule was Athens, which by the laws of Solon forbade enslavement for debt, as a consequence. The Statute of Bankrupts of 1542 was the first statute under English law dealing with bankruptcy or insolvency, Bankruptcy is also documented in East Asia. According to al-Maqrizi, the Yassa of Genghis Khan contained a provision that mandated the death penalty for anyone who became bankrupt three times, a failure of a nation to meet bond repayments has been seen on many occasions. Philip II of Spain had to declare four state bankruptcies in 1557,1560,1575 and 1596, at the edge of Europe, Egypt, Russia, and Turkey have histories of chronic default as well. For private households, it is argued to be insufficient to merely dismiss debts after a certain period and it is important to assess the underlying problems and to minimize the risk of financial distress to re-occur. In most EU Member States, debt discharge is conditioned by a partial payment obligation, in the United States, discharge is conditioned to a lesser extent. The spectrum is broad in the EU, with the UK coming closest to the US system, the Other Member States do not provide the option of a debt discharge. It is almost impossible to discharge student loan debt by filing bankruptcy, unlike most other debtors, the individual with student debt must give a series of reasons and tests to prove that the debtor could not pay the debt. If the person were to file bankruptcy, he or she is encouraged to do so under Chapter 13. In order to avoid bankruptcy, one could negotiate with the lender to lower monthly payments, student loan bankruptcy is considered a last resort. However, some find themselves being forced to file bankruptcy, as the lender refused to lower payments
7.
Arena Monterrey
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Arena Monterrey is an indoor arena in Monterrey, Mexico. It is primarily used for concerts, shows and indoor sports like indoor soccer or basketball, currently, it is home to the Monterrey Steel, an indoor American football team in the National Arena League. The Arena Monterrey is owned by Publimax S. A. de C. V. part of the Avalanz Group, the arena is 480,000 square feet in size. The project gained support from the Government of the State of Nuevo León who gave the land for the arena to be constructed within the limits of Fundidora Park. The arena was planned to begin construction in May 1992, and finished by 1993, but the construction actually started on January 1994. In April 2001 the Government of the State of Nuevo León invited 11 groups of investors to discuss the possibilities of restarting the construction of the arena. Before the construction was restarted, Hernán Garza accused the government of illegally revoking the concession that was given to him to build and finish the project. The government revoked the concession because of the halt of the project in 1995, in 2004, World Wrestling Entertainment made its debut in Mexico with WWE RAW, Wrestlemania XX Revenge Tour in Monterrey. The first WWE Raw house show took place on April 3,2004, after the success by the Mexican fans. The SmackDown brand debuted on January 2006 with a sellout, in October 2008, SmackDown made its return, and ECW its Arena Monterrey debut, with the Survivor Series Live Tour with two dates, October 16 and 17. Total Nonstop Action Wrestling also had a show in November 2006. In December 2007 TNA was supposed to have a show in Arena Monterrey. Asistencia Asesoría y Administración held the Héroes Inmortales III event on September 26,2009, 8th Shito-Ryu Karate-Do World Championships to be held October 17-23,2015, at the arena. Monterrey Steel National Arena League football starting in 2017, nuestra Belleza Mexico 2008 - September 2008
8.
Sesame Street
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Sesame Street is a long-running American childrens television series, produced by Sesame Workshop and created by Joan Ganz Cooney and Lloyd Morrisett. The program is known for its content, and images communicated through the use of Jim Hensons Muppets, animation, short films, humor. The show has undergone significant changes throughout its history, with the creation of Sesame Street, producers and writers of a childrens television show used, for the first time, educational goals and a curriculum to shape its content. It was also the first time a shows educational effects were studied, the show was initially funded by government and private foundations but has become somewhat self-supporting due to revenues from licensing arrangements, international sales, and other media. By 2006, there were independently produced versions, or co-productions, in 2001 there were over 120 million viewers of various international versions of Sesame Street, and by the shows 40th anniversary in 2009, it was broadcast in more than 140 countries. By its 40th anniversary in 2009, Sesame Street was the childrens television show in the United States. A1996 survey found that 95% of all American preschoolers had watched the show by the time they were three years old, in 2008, it was estimated that 77 million Americans had watched the series as children. As of 2014, Sesame Street has won 167 Emmy Awards and 8 Grammy Awards—more than any other childrens show, Sesame Street was conceived in 1966 during discussions between television producer Joan Ganz Cooney and Carnegie Foundation vice president Lloyd Morrisett. Their goal was to create a television show that would master the addictive qualities of television and do something good with them. The program premiered on television stations on November 10,1969. It was the first preschool educational television program to base its contents and production values on laboratory, initial responses to the show included adulatory reviews, some controversy, and high ratings. By its 40th anniversary in 2009, Sesame Street was broadcast in over 120 countries, Sesame Street has evolved from its initial inception. According to writer Michael Davis, by the mid-1970s the show had become an American institution, the cast and crew expanded during this time, with emphasis on the hiring of women crew members and the addition of minorities to the cast. The shows success continued into the 1980s, Sesame Streets curriculum has expanded to include more affective topics such as relationships, ethics, and emotions. After the turn of the 21st century, Sesame Street made major structural changes, for example, starting in 2002, its format became more narrative and included ongoing storylines. After its thirtieth anniversary in 1999 and due to the popularity of the Muppet Elmo, upon its fortieth anniversary in 2009, the show received a Lifetime Achievement Emmy at the 36th Daytime Emmy Awards. In April 2017, Sesame Street will introduce a new puppet called Julia with Autism to the show, and will be voiced by Stacey Gordon, who started Puppet Pie and has a son on the autism spectrum. From its first episode, Sesame Street has structured its format by using a visual style, fast-moving action, humor
9.
Space Shot (ride)
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Space Shot is a type of amusement ride manufactured by S&S Worldwide. The ride is a drop tower type attraction that uses compressed air to propel riders up the tower then gently lower them with a series of air-cushioned bounces back to the loading platform. The first space shot to be built in the United States was the Detonator at Worlds of Fun in Kansas City and it was also the first in the world to feature twin-towers. The tallest space shot in the world is the La Venganza del Enigma in Warner Bros, in the center of the tower is a large columnar pipe system. Threaded through the pipe column is a cable that is attached to a piston on one end, looped over a pulley at the top of the tower. In the loading position, the carriage is at the base of the tower. Upon charging the air system to the pressure, compressed air is injected into the central column pushing the piston rapidly downward. As the piston moves down, it pulls the cable downward over the pulley at the top, upon exhausting the air from the pressure system, the carriage descends, drawing the piston back up the pipe column. As the piston moves up, the air inside the pipe column alternately compresses and expands, with each bounce, a pressure relief valve at the top of the pipe column releases some of the compressed air making each successive bounce smaller until the carriage reaches the loading platform. Below is a representation of the ride cycle, Turbo Drop Double Shot Official website Official specifications
10.
Kart racing
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Kart racing or karting is a variant of open-wheel motorsport with small, open, four-wheeled vehicles called karts, go-karts, or gearbox/shifter karts depending on the design. They are usually raced on scaled-down circuits, Karting is commonly perceived as the stepping stone to the higher ranks of motorsports. Karts vary widely in speed and some can reach speeds exceeding 260 kilometres per hour, American Art Ingels is generally accepted to be the father of karting. A veteran hot rodder and a car builder at Kurtis Kraft. Instantly popular, Karting rapidly spread to countries, and currently has a large following in Europe. The first kart manufacturer was an American company, Go Kart Manufacturing Co, in 1959, McCulloch was the first company to produce engines for karts. Its first engine, the McCulloch MC-10, was an adapted chainsaw two-stroke engine, later, in the 1960s, motorcycle engines were also adapted for kart use, before dedicated manufacturers, especially in Italy, started to build engines for the sport. The chassis are made of steel tubing, there is no suspension, therefore chassis have to be flexible enough to work as a suspension and stiff enough not to break or give way on a turn. Kart chassis are classified in the USA as Open, Caged, all Commission Internationale de Karting - Fédération Internationale de lAutomobile or CIK-FIA approved chassis are Straight and Open. Open karts have no roll cage, Caged karts have a roll cage surrounding the driver, they are mostly used on dirt tracks. In Straight chassis the driver sits in the center, Straight chassis are used for sprint racing. In Offset chassis the driver sits on the left side, Offset chassis are used for left-turn-only speedway racing. The stiffness of the chassis enables different handling characteristics for different circumstances, typically, for dry conditions a stiffer chassis is preferable, while in wet or other poor traction conditions, a more flexible chassis may work better. The best chassis allow for stiffening bars at the rear, front, braking is achieved by a disc brake mounted on the rear axle. Front disc brakes are used in most shifter kart classes and are popular in other classes, however. Shifter karts have dual master cylinders, one for the front, professionally raced karts typically weigh 165 to 175 lb, complete without driver. Avanti, Tony Kart, Trulli, Birel, CRG, Gillard, Intrepid, Kosmic, Zanardi or FA Kart, emmick, Coyote, Bandit, Shadow, MGM, Titan, PRC and Margay are American companies producing kart chassis. Amusement park go-karts can be powered by 4-stroke engines or electric motors and they are adequate for racing and fun kart applications
11.
Count von Count
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Count von Count, often known simply as the Count or Count Count, is one of the Muppet characters on Sesame Street. The Count is a vampire modeled after Bela Lugosis interpretation of Count Dracula, the Counts main role in the show is to educate children about simple mathematical concepts, most notably, as his name implies, counting. The Count loves counting obsessively, and other characters can be sometime be quite annoyed by this and this could imply that the character suffers from Arithmomania. In Season 6, for instance, he once prevented Ernie from answering a telephone because he wanted to continue counting the number of times the telephone rang. Another time, while serving as an operator, he refused to let Kermit the Frog get out at his selected floor so he could count every floor in the building. The Count lives in an old, cobweb-infested castle which he shares with many bats and he spent his childhood in the Carpathian Mountains, which makes it clear he is Romanian. Perhaps not surprising, he speaks in an accent from that area of the world and his pet bats tend to have Slavic names, such as Grisha, Misha, Sasha, and Tatiana. He views the bats as his children and sometimes counts them, as a running gag, his castle has a squeaky door, which visitors always point out, only for the Count to instantly change the subject to his counting addiction. The Count drives a car, the Countmobile, designed to look like a bat. The Count has been shown with a number of girlfriends, who tend to be vampire Countesses and these include Countess von Backwards who counts backwards, Countess Dahling von Dahling, and one simply named The Countess. The von Count family includes a brother and mother as well as an Uncle Uno. According to BBC News, during an interview with the More or Less teams Tim Harford, the Count was quoted as saying, Its a square-root thing. 34,969 is a square, being 1872. The Count mentions 2,30 at any chance he can get and this number may represent an inside joke. During the afternoon, his segments of the show always come on at exactly 2,30 p. m. or during the fashionably late segment, the Counts signature song is The Song of the Count. The Count debuted on Sesame Street in Season 4, and was conceived by Norman Stiles, the Count was performed by Jerry Nelson, who brought the character to life. He was originally out of the Large Lavender Live Hand Anything Muppet pattern. Nelson voiced the Count until his death on August 23,2012, at that time, Matt Vogel had taken over performing the puppetry of the Count
12.
2007 Universal Forum of Cultures
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This massive event gathered an approximate 4 million visitors to Monterrey, and was mostly free of charge. The Universal Forum of Cultures project was born in 1996 in the city of Barcelona, the mayor of Barcelona identified that, after the 1992 Barcelona Olympic Games, there was a large number of international events that fostered competition. On the other hand, there was no event dedicated to empowering civil society or focused on the celebrations of the arts and culture. The proposal to create such an event was presented in 1997 to UNESCO by the delegation of Spain. In 1999, UNESCO signed a agreement with the Forum Foundation. In 2004, Barcelona hosted the first Universal Forum of Cultures, Barcelona 2004, upon concluding the 2004 Forum, the Forum Foundation selected the city of Monterrey, Mexico to host the 2007 Forum. Other candidate cities in the race included important venues such as Amsterdam, Montreal, Durban, to empower international civil society in becoming relevant actors in the decision-making process in their local communities. To promote interconnection and dialogues between the cultures of the modern world, to know the world through multiple perspectives and distinct cultures. To generate consciousness and commitment to adopt sustainable ways of life for our planet, the Universal Forum of Cultures Monterrey 2007 revolved around 4 Core Concepts or Axis. The 4 Core Concepts of the 2007 Forum were, Cultural Diversity Sustainability Knowledge Peace The existence of diversity in the world is an undeniable fact. People often coexist with others who share different beliefs, traditions, Forum seeks to provide knowledge of the circumstances in which others live, new ways to see the world, respect our planet, and seek social advancement. Forum took on this sensitive topic not only from an environmental perspective, Knowledge is a human construction designed to organize and convey our experiences in the world. The challenge is learning how to make the best use of it so we can achieve an improvement in our quality of life. This topic was proposed by the 2007 Monterrey Forum, as it was not debated in Barcelona 2004, paving a way for peace does not only mean preventing armed warfare. In the Universal Forum of Cultures, new dialogues on peace were instituted on all levels, Peace with ourselves and the people around us, peace with our ecosystem, and peace amongst peoples and nations. Keeping in mind at all times there can be no peace where basic needs have not been satisfied. The 4 Core Concepts of the Monterrey 2007 Forum were carried out in 4 separate activities programmes, the Dialogues were broken down into 8 continuous weeks of events, with more than 350 world level speakers and experts, and carried out in Themed Weeks. That meant, that each particular week, all the Forum Dialogues were centered in one single topic
13.
Champ Car
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Such racing had been sanctioned by the AAA, USAC, SCCA, the CRL, CART, and IndyCar. In its most popular and recent contemporary usage, Champ Car was the given to a governing body formerly known as Championship Auto Racing Teams. The CART series was founded in 1979 by team owners who disagreed with the direction, at the height of the popularity of the series in the late 1980s and early 1990s, it was known as the CART/PPG Indy Car World Series. The term Champ Car temporarily disappeared from use, with the more marketable term Indy Car being utilized, in 1996, the open wheel split saw the CART series take a different direction from the newly created Indy Racing League IRL and the Indy 500. Thereafter, it re-branded itself as CART again, and re-booted the term Champ Car as the moniker for the machines used, the series was advertised as CART FedEx Championship Series from 1997 to 2002. CART went bankrupt at the end of the 2003 season, a trio of CART team owners acquired the assets of the sanctioning body and renamed it as the Champ Car World Series, again highlighting the historic Champ Car term. In 1905 the AAA established the national driving championship and became the first sanctioning body for auto racing in the United States, the AAA ceased sanctioning auto racing in the general outrage over motor racing safety that followed the 1955 Le Mans disaster. In response, Indianapolis Motor Speedway president Tony Hulman formed USAC to take over the sanctioning of what was called championship auto racing, USAC sanctioned the championship exclusively until 1978, when a split between USAC and some of the car owners prompted the formation of the rival CART series. The split from USAC was spurred by a group of activist car owners who had grown disenchanted with what they saw as a sanctioning body. Gurney took his inspiration from the improvements Bernie Ecclestone had forced on Formula One with his creation of the Formula One Constructors Association. The White Paper called for the owners to form CART as a group to promote USACs national championship. The group would work to negotiate television rights and race purses. USACs rejection of the led the owners to form a new series in late 1978 under the principles laid out in the Gurney White Paper. The first race was held in March 1979, the newness of the organization, however, prevented it from being recognized by ACCUS, the United States representative to the FIA. An arrangement was reached such that the SCCA would act as the body for the new series. This would allow the events to be listed on the International Motorsports Calendar, the new series quickly gained the support of the majority of team and track owners, with the only notable holdout being A. J. Foyt. This meant that the front and mid-pack teams would be racing in the new CART series, of the 20 races held in 1979,13 were part of the 1979 CART Championship. Of the 10 tracks to host races, five would host CART events exclusively and one, Ontario, by 1982, the CART series was almost universally recognized as the American national championship
14.
United Nations
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The United Nations is an intergovernmental organization to promote international co-operation. A replacement for the ineffective League of Nations, the organization was established on 24 October 1945 after World War II in order to prevent another such conflict, at its founding, the UN had 51 member states, there are now 193. The headquarters of the UN is in Manhattan, New York City, further main offices are situated in Geneva, Nairobi, and Vienna. The organization is financed by assessed and voluntary contributions from its member states, the UNs mission to preserve world peace was complicated in its early decades by the Cold War between the US and Soviet Union and their respective allies. The organization participated in actions in Korea and the Congo. After the end of the Cold War, the UN took on major military, the UN has six principal organs, the General Assembly, the Security Council, the Economic and Social Council, the Secretariat, the International Court of Justice, and the UN Trusteeship Council. UN System agencies include the World Bank Group, the World Health Organization, the World Food Programme, UNESCO, the UNs most prominent officer is the Secretary-General, an office held by Portuguese António Guterres since 2017. Non-governmental organizations may be granted consultative status with ECOSOC and other agencies to participate in the UNs work, the organization won the Nobel Peace Prize in 2001, and a number of its officers and agencies have also been awarded the prize. Other evaluations of the UNs effectiveness have been mixed, some commentators believe the organization to be an important force for peace and human development, while others have called the organization ineffective, corrupt, or biased. Following the catastrophic loss of life in the First World War, the earliest concrete plan for a new world organization began under the aegis of the US State Department in 1939. It incorporated Soviet suggestions, but left no role for France, four Policemen was coined to refer to four major Allied countries, United States, United Kingdom, Soviet Union, and China, which emerged in the Declaration by United Nations. Roosevelt first coined the term United Nations to describe the Allied countries, the term United Nations was first officially used when 26 governments signed this Declaration. One major change from the Atlantic Charter was the addition of a provision for religious freedom, by 1 March 1945,21 additional states had signed. Each Government pledges itself to cooperate with the Governments signatory hereto, the foregoing declaration may be adhered to by other nations which are, or which may be, rendering material assistance and contributions in the struggle for victory over Hitlerism. During the war, the United Nations became the term for the Allies. To join, countries had to sign the Declaration and declare war on the Axis, at the later meetings, Lord Halifax deputized for Mr. Eden, Wellington Koo for T. V. Soong, and Mr Gromyko for Mr. Molotov. The first meetings of the General Assembly, with 51 nations represented, the General Assembly selected New York City as the site for the headquarters of the UN, and the facility was completed in 1952. Its site—like UN headquarters buildings in Geneva, Vienna, and Nairobi—is designated as international territory, the Norwegian Foreign Minister, Trygve Lie, was elected as the first UN Secretary-General
15.
Organization of American States
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The Organization of American States, or the OAS or OEA, is a continental organization founded on 30 April 1948, for the purposes of regional solidarity and cooperation among its member states. Headquartered in Washington, United States, the OASs members are the 35 independent states of the Americas, as of 26 May 2015, the Secretary General of OAS is Luis Almagro. Bolívars dream of American unity was meant to unify Hispanic American nations against external powers, the pursuit of regional solidarity and cooperation again came to the forefront in 1889–1890, at the First International Conference of American States. These two bodies, in existence as of 14 April 1890, represent the point of inception to which the OAS and its General Secretariat trace their origins. At the Fourth International Conference of American States, the name of the organization was changed to the Union of American Republics, the Pan American Union Building was constructed in 1910, on Constitution Avenue, Northwest, Washington, D. C. In the mid-1930s, U. S. President Franklin Delano Roosevelt organized a conference in Buenos Aires. One of the items at the conference was a League of Nations of the Americas, an idea proposed by Colombia, Guatemala, and the Dominican Republic. At the subsequent Inter-American Conference for the Maintenance of Peace,21 nations pledged to remain neutral in the event of a conflict between any two members. The experience of World War II convinced hemispheric governments that unilateral action could not ensure the integrity of the American nations in the event of external aggression. This was the event that saw the birth of the OAS as it stands today, the meeting also adopted the American Declaration of the Rights and Duties of Man, the worlds first general human rights instrument. The transition from the Pan American Union to OAS would have been if it had not been for the assassination of Colombian leader Jorge Eliécer Gaitán. The Director General of the former, Alberto Lleras Camargo, became the Organizations first Secretary General, the current Secretary General is former Uruguayan minister of foreign affairs Luis Almagro. Significant milestones in the history of the OAS since the signing of the Charter have included the following,1959,1969, American Convention on Human Rights signed. 1970, OAS General Assembly established as the Organizations supreme decision-making body,1979, Inter-American Court of Human Rights created. 1991, Adoption of Resolution 1080, which requires the Secretary General to convene the Permanent Council within ten days of a coup détat in any member country,1994, First Summit of the Americas, which resolved to establish a Free Trade Area of the Americas by 2005. 2009, OAS revokes 1962 suspension of Cuba,2009, OAS suspends Honduras due to the coup which ousted president Manuel Zelaya. 2011, OAS lifts the suspension of Honduras with the return of Manuel Zelaya from exile, article 2 then defines eight essential purposes, To strengthen the peace and security of the continent. To promote and consolidate representative democracy, with due respect for the principle of nonintervention, to prevent possible causes of difficulties and to ensure the pacific settlement of disputes that may arise among the member states
16.
A1 Grand Prix
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A1 Grand Prix was a single make open wheel auto racing series. It was unique in its field in that competitors solely represented their nation as opposed to themselves or a team, as such, it was often promoted as the World Cup of Motorsport. The series was ratified by the Fédération Internationale de lAutomobile and races were held in the traditional Formula One off-season, the nation-based A1GP concept was founded by Sheikh Maktoum Hasher Maktoum Al Maktoum of Dubai, initially in 2003. After a successful first season of A1GP, it was announced on 29 September 2006 that Maktoum was to sell his position as Chairman & Director of A1GP, the transfer of his share in the organisation of A1 Grand Prix to RAB Capital was finalized in December 2006. Tony Teixeira took control of the series in 2006, leading it to liquidation by 2009, the nation-based A1GP concept was founded by Sheikh Maktoum Hasher Maktoum Al Maktoum of Dubai, initially in 2003. Thirty franchises were made available, twenty-three of them were restricted to specified nations, the first season was planned for 12 rounds, however the cancellation of a race scheduled for Curitiba, Brazil in January 2006 reduced this number to 11. Nelson Piquet, Jr. won the race of the series for A1 Team Brazil. Their winning form was not to continue, wins at Estoril and Malaysia saw A1 Team France build up a sizeable gap. By the start of the break, France had run away with the lead with A1 Team Switzerland 28 points behind. At the final race of the season in Shanghai, A1 Team France were crowned the first-ever A1 Grand Prix world champions with 172 points, Switzerland were second with 121 points and A1 Team Great Britain third with 97 points. Katherine Legge was the first woman to drive A1 Grand Prix cars during test session in December 2005 on Dubai Autodrome, changes were made for the 2006–07 season to race durations and distances to improve the spectacle for attendees and TV viewers. The 2006–07 schedule was released on 7 July 2006, with the first race at Circuit Park Zandvoort on 1 October 2006, New teams Team Singapore and Team Greece joined the competition but Team Turkey failed to secure funding for the season. Team Austria, Team Japan, Team Portugal and Team Russia did not return for the second season, however, after securing funding Team Portugal competed in the final four rounds of the second season in South Africa, Mexico, China and Britain. Team Germany won the series with 128 points,35 points lead ahead of Team New Zealand, the 2008–09 season was the first season in which the new Powered by Ferrari A1GP car was used. According to 2007–08 champion Neel Jani, 90% of teams in the paddock warned Teixeira ahead of time that this car change was untimely and an inefficient use of funds. Rule changes included shorter qualifying sessions, a pit-stop during the now longer Sprint Race, removal of limits on Friday test drivers, and reduced Sprint Race points scoring. The opening round of the season, scheduled as part of the well established Nikon SuperGP race meeting, was cancelled five days before practice was due to begin. The event was underwritten by the Queensland state government, who have mentioned the possibility of taking legal recourse against A1 Grand Prix
17.
Macroplaza
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The Macroplaza or La Gran Plaza is a town square or plaza located in the heart of the city of Monterrey, Mexico. The Macroplaza was built in the early 1980s during the governorship of Alfonso Martínez Domínguez, the construction of the Macroplaza required the demolition of several old buildings and houses including a famous movie theater. The Macroplaza is the seventh-largest plaza in the world and it has an extension of 400,000 square metres consisting of various monuments, smaller plazas and gardens. Faro del Comercio, a monument designed by architect Luis Barragán. At nights it shoots a green laser around the city, explanada de los Heroes, a 19, 400-square-meter esplanade located in front of the Palacio de Gobierno. Jardín Hundido, an almost hidden garden located in the heart of the Macroplaza featuring various monuments, a Speakers Corner, similar to that located in Londons Hyde Park, is located in the Jardín Hundido. Biblioteca Fray Servando Teresa de Mier, a public library, Fuente de Neptuno, a bronze fountain representing the Roman god Neptune. Capilla de los Dulces Nombres, a 19th-century Roman Catholic chapel, Plaza Zaragoza, the old city plaza located between the Cathedral and the original city hall building. Monterrey City Hall, the headquarters of the Mayor of Monterrey, homenaje al Sol, a monument designed by Rufino Tamayo located at the southernmost point of the Macroplaza. The Macroplaza is accessible via Monterrey Metro, with the Zaragoza station located in the centre of the Macroplaza, the Macroplaza also includes a parking lot area
18.
France
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France, officially the French Republic, is a country with territory in western Europe and several overseas regions and territories. The European, or metropolitan, area of France extends from the Mediterranean Sea to the English Channel and the North Sea, Overseas France include French Guiana on the South American continent and several island territories in the Atlantic, Pacific and Indian oceans. France spans 643,801 square kilometres and had a population of almost 67 million people as of January 2017. It is a unitary republic with the capital in Paris. Other major urban centres include Marseille, Lyon, Lille, Nice, Toulouse, during the Iron Age, what is now metropolitan France was inhabited by the Gauls, a Celtic people. The area was annexed in 51 BC by Rome, which held Gaul until 486, France emerged as a major European power in the Late Middle Ages, with its victory in the Hundred Years War strengthening state-building and political centralisation. During the Renaissance, French culture flourished and a colonial empire was established. The 16th century was dominated by civil wars between Catholics and Protestants. France became Europes dominant cultural, political, and military power under Louis XIV, in the 19th century Napoleon took power and established the First French Empire, whose subsequent Napoleonic Wars shaped the course of continental Europe. Following the collapse of the Empire, France endured a succession of governments culminating with the establishment of the French Third Republic in 1870. Following liberation in 1944, a Fourth Republic was established and later dissolved in the course of the Algerian War, the Fifth Republic, led by Charles de Gaulle, was formed in 1958 and remains to this day. Algeria and nearly all the colonies became independent in the 1960s with minimal controversy and typically retained close economic. France has long been a centre of art, science. It hosts Europes fourth-largest number of cultural UNESCO World Heritage Sites and receives around 83 million foreign tourists annually, France is a developed country with the worlds sixth-largest economy by nominal GDP and ninth-largest by purchasing power parity. In terms of household wealth, it ranks fourth in the world. France performs well in international rankings of education, health care, life expectancy, France remains a great power in the world, being one of the five permanent members of the United Nations Security Council with the power to veto and an official nuclear-weapon state. It is a member state of the European Union and the Eurozone. It is also a member of the Group of 7, North Atlantic Treaty Organization, Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development, the World Trade Organization, originally applied to the whole Frankish Empire, the name France comes from the Latin Francia, or country of the Franks
19.
Algarve International Circuit
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The 100,000 capacity Algarve International Circuit, commonly referred to as Portimao Circuit, is a 4.692 km race circuit located in Portimão, Portugal. With a total cost of million, the project includes a karting track, technology park, five-star hotel, sports complex. Construction was finished in October 2008 and the circuit was homologated by both the FIM on 11 October 2008 and the FIA two days later, the circuit was designed by Ricardo Pina, Arquitectos. In October 2010 the teams agreed to add the Portimao Circuit to the Formula One testing roster along with Bahrain, the sale was forced by the debts accumulated by Parkalgar Serviços, believed to be approximately 160 million Euros. The circuit hosted the final round of the World Superbike Championship on 2 November 2008, on 9 June, the track was confirmed to host a round of the 2008-09 A1 Grand Prix season. The race was set for the weekend of 12 April 2009, on 10 October 2008, the Le Mans Series announced a 1000 km night race to be held at Algarve on 2 August 2009. On 5 November 2008, the FIA GT Championship announced and 7th round of the 2009 season will be held at Algarve on 13 September 2009, a Formula One test session, with the McLaren and Honda teams participating, was scheduled for 15–17 December 2008. Toyota also tested at the circuit on 20 January 2009 in the first outing of their new TF109 chassis, the circuit will also host the final round of the 2009 GP2 Series season in September 2009. From 2010 it will host a round of the FIA World Touring Car Championship, the circuit resembles old Nürburgring and Spa-Francorchamps, mainly because of its constantly undulating nature. A1 Team Portugals driver Filipe Albuquerque observed that there are big downhill slopes and he also commented that the track is good for overtaking because the circuit width. A1 Team New Zealands driver Earl Bamber observed that there are many special turns with personality and he commented that the new circuit is a little bit dangerous like the old school circuits with a roller coaster ride. A1 Team Frances driver Nicolas Prost commented that the asphalt is new and it has been confirmed that one of the corners of the circuit was named after former World Supersport rider Craig Jones who was killed in a motorcycle crash at Brands Hatch in 2008. This monument is a sculpture, representing the main straight of a racing circuit. This large-scale artistic intervention serves to frame the statue but will also be useful as an access that will allow pedestrian approach to the statue. The owner of Autódromo Internacional do Algarve and Parkalgar racing team, Paulo Pinheiro, declared and this tribute will keep alive the admiration and respect for the work of Craig in the motorcycling world. This monument will ensure that Craig Jones will never be forgotten, the inauguration of the marble and stainless steel statue was expected to occur in 2010. If completed in 2011, this will be the stone statue in the world representing a motorbike
20.
Beijing International Streetcircuit
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Beijing International Streetcircuit is a street circuit in Yizhuang, a suburb 10 miles to the south-east of central Beijing. It was first used on the weekend of November 10–12,2006 for the round of the A1GP. China became the country to host two events in the 2006-07 A1 Grand Prix series. It was announced in the Shanghai Daily on March 23,2007 that, due to lack of funding, the report suggested that preparing the street circuit for the race cost about 20 million yuan. The FIA expressed safety concerns about the dual carriageway on this track before the event, however, clearance was given on the morning of November 10 for the use of the circuit for racing purposes. The tight hairpin at the end of the carriageway and also the backstraight was a 180 degree left turn. Later during the race, the turn was found to be far too tight for the race cars and they tried to negotiate safely by running wide but were still stopping at the mid corner, therefore the sessions were red flagged. During qualifying, manhole covers on the roads were coming due to the racing cars high downforce. Some advertising banners also came loose around the circuit and it was announced the races would start behind the safety car, as the first corner was also deemed unsafe. The straight leading up to Turn 8 was shortened and the turn was made less tight, the shorter circuit was created and creating another less tight hairpin halfway up the straight, bypassing most of the old straight. However, this corner was not ideal as drivers ran wide despite the corner being wider
21.
Brands Hatch
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Brands Hatch is a motor racing circuit near Swanley in Kent, England. First used as a dirt track circuit on farmland, it hosted 12 runnings of the British Grand Prix between 1964 and 1986 and currently hosts many British and International racing events. Gerhard Berger once said that Brands Hatch is the best circuit in the world, Paddock Hill Bend is a renowned corner. The longer Grand Prix layout played host to Formula One racing, including such as Jo Sifferts duel with Chris Amon in 1968. Noise restrictions and the proximity of residents to the Grand Prix loop mean that the number of race meetings held on the extended circuit are limited to just a few per year. The full Grand Prix Circuit begins on the Brabham Straight, an off-camber, slightly curved stretch, despite the difficulty of the curve, due to the straight that precedes it, it is one of the tracks few overtaking spots. The next corner, Druids, is a bend, negotiated after an uphill braking zone at Hailwood Hill. After the straight, the circuit climbs uphill though the decreasing-radius Surtees turn, the most significant elevation changes on the circuit occur here at Pilgrims Drop and Hawthorn Hill, which leads into Hawthorn Bend. The track then loops around the woodland with a series of mid-speed corners, most notably the dip at Westfield and Dingle Dell, the British Rallycross Circuit at Brands Hatch was designed and constructed by four-times British Rallycross Champion Trevor Hopkins. 0.9 miles long and completed around 1981, unlike earlier rallycross courses at Brands Hatch, cars start on the startline then veer right and downhill on the loose at Paddock Hill Bend. From Cooper Straight, the cars swoop up the old link road, Brands Hatch was originally the name of a natural grassy hollow that was shaped like a amphitheatre. Using the natural contours of the land, many cyclists from around London practised, raced, the first actual race on the circuit was held in 1926, over 4 miles between cyclists and cross-country runners. Within a few years, motorcyclists were using the circuit, laying out a three-quarter-mile anti-clockwise track in the valley. They also saw the advantage of competing in a natural arena just a few hundred yards from the A20, and with the passage of time, the first motorcycle races were very informal with much of the organisation being done on the spot. Initially the racing was on a strip approximately where Cooper Straight came to be when the track was tarmacked. In 1932, four local motorcycling clubs joined forces and staged their first meeting that March, motorcycle racing quickly resumed after World War II and in 1947, Joe Francis persuaded the BBC to televise a grass track meeting, the first motorcycle event to be televised on British TV. Following World War II, cinders were laid on the track of what was by then known as Brands Hatch Stadium and that was until 1950 when the 500 Club managed to persuade Joe Francis, that the future for his stadium lay in car and motorcycle road racing. The group behind 500 c. c. single-seater racing cars was the 500 Club and it, together with the owners, amongst those giving the demonstration was a very young Stirling Moss
22.
Masaryk Circuit
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In the 1930s, events such as the Masaryk Grand Prix attracted top teams and drivers. The track is named after the first president of Czechoslovakia, Tomáš Masaryk, racing on the old roads ended after 1986, when the new circuit was opened. The annual Motorcycle Grand Prix of the Czech Republic is the circuits most important event and it is held here since 1950 and is the most famous motor race in the Czech Republic. Championship is part of the World Grand Prix since 1965, the FIA World Touring Car Championship, FIA GT1 World Championship, Formula Two and the Superbike World Championship also raced at the circuit. The Czech Republic Motorcycle Grand Prix has always more of a promoter event than a profit-raiser in itself. The original layout ran anti-clockwise on approximately 31 km of public roads west of Brno, including the villages of Bosonohy, from 1930 to 1937, the Masaryk Grand Prix attracted some of the top drivers and teams. The renamed Czechoslovakian Grand Prix in 1949 was run clockwise on a shorter 17.8 km layout around Kohoutovice, in spite of a crowd in excess of 400,000 people, this would be the last Grand Prix for cars on the old circuit. Beginning in 1950, the circuit played host to the Czechoslovakian motorcycle Grand Prix, the circuit had been again reduced in length to 13.94 km in 1964. The European Touring Car series visited in the 1980s, by time the circuit had been finally reduced to 10.92 km in 1975. The current permanent road racing circuit was opened in 1987 and it lies north of Kyvalka, within the bounds of the circuit used in the 1930s, but not incorporating any of the public roads. The motorcycle race moved to the new circuit and regained its status as a round of the world championship, a World Sports Car Championship race was held in 1988, and a round of the A1 Grand Prix series in 2006. It is also the location of the 24H Epilog of Brno
23.
Chengdu Goldenport Circuit
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Chengdu Goldenport Circuit also known as Chengdu International Circuit in English. It is a permanent circuit in Shi Sheng Road, Jin Jiang,610023 Chengdu, the circuit is 3.367 km long and held a round of Asian Touring Car Series, Formula V6 Asia in 2007 and 2008. On August 262008, the circuit was confirmed to be hosting a round of the 2008-09 A1 Grand Prix season and it was the fourth different circuit in China to have hosted an A1 Grand Prix race. The fastest lap at the circuit was set by Robert Doornbos of Team The Netherlands, A1 Grand Prixs track commentator Bruce Jones compared the bumpy circuit to Spains Circuito Permanente del Jarama and Portugals Autódromo do Estoril. He suggested the main straight is longer than the one at Circuit Park Zandvoort, another A1GP track commentator John Watson believed that the bumps are the consequence of the tracks location in an earthquake zone. A1 Team Australias driver John Martin said driving on the track was like old Mario Kart on Nintendo because the bumps on the circuit made his car jump, there were puddles on the circuit which never dried up during the weekend and they caused spins. He also said that the surface is not ideal because the water was rising to the surface, as the track was built on part of a swamp
24.
Dubai Autodrome
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The Dubai Autodrome is an FIA sanctioned 5.39 km motorsports circuit located in Dubailand, Dubai, United Arab Emirates. The venue hosted the December 2005 A1 Grand Prix and the FIA GT Championship from 2004 to 2006, the track record at the longest configuration was set by Kamui Kobayashi with a time of 1,41.220 in a GP2 Asia car. The architects of the project were Populous and the circuit was designed by Clive Bowen of Apex Circuit Design, since 2006 the Autodrome has been home to the Dubai 24 Hour, a GT, sports car and touring car automobile endurance race open to both professional and semi-professional teams. The circuit has FIA Grade 1 license, some of the world’s most famous drivers have driven competitively or visited the circuit including Formula One champions Michael Schumacher, Kimi Raikkonen, and Jenson Button. Dubai Autodrome has deliberately positioned itself as the home of UAE national motorsport, the goal to develop and promote UAE motor racing at national level. Through the DAMC the venue has hosted races for, UAE Touring Car Championship, UAE GT Championship, NGK Racing Series, UAE Clio Cup and UAE Sportbikes Championship. Other local and regional race series that have visited the circuit include, Trofeu Maserati, Radical Cup, Porsche Cup Middle East, Suzuki Swift Cup and Formula Gulf 1000. The Hankook 24 Hour of Dubai endurance race has become a mainstay of the motorsport calendar and is the first major road racing event on the global calendar of any given year. Hosted at Dubai Autodrome the round attracts teams and drivers including a number of teams, the Kartdrome - which is part of the Autodrome complex - is an international standard karting track situated across the boulevard from the Dubai Autodrome main straight. The Kartdrome has in the past hosted rounds of the Biland World Finals, the digital surveillance system provides complete coverage of all areas of the track and is linked to the Race/Safety control room for monitoring and saving on hard disk recorders. This means that every incident along the track during a race or event can be viewed by the clerk of the course, most facilities are housed in a two-storey ultra modern complex facing the grandstand. These facilities include Pit Complex, Race/Safety Control Room, Timekeeping Room, Media Centre, VIP Suite, a Medical Centre is situated behind the Pit area for track emergencies during major events. At the rear of the Pits is a traditional racing paddock for team staff and hospitality. These are the courses with access to the pit area, Official site Dubai 24 Hour Official site
25.
Durban street circuit
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The Durban street circuit was a 3.283 kilometres temporary street circuit located in Durban, South Africa which was 300 metres from Durbans North Beach and 800 metres from Durbans CBD. The circuit and infrastructure was designed by D3 Motorsport Development which also oversaw the construction of the each year. It was used for the A1 Grand Prix from 2005 to 2008, the A1 Grand Prix race held on this circuit was the first international open-wheel automobile race held in the country since the 1993 South African Grand Prix. The 2006 event attracted more than 105,000 spectators, the event was voted the best round of the 2005–06 A1 Grand Prix season. It was also one of the biggest sports events in Durbans history, rumors claimed that a future South African Formula One Grand Prix would possibly be raced in the street circuit. However, there are no official sources confirmed that any future South African Grand Prix in the Durban Streets and it was announced on 21 July 2008 that Kyalami would host the South African round of the 2008-09 A1 Grand Prix season instead of the Durban street circuit. In 2010 the Durban street circuit was to host a round of the new FIA GT1 World Championship, however, following delays in completing alterations to the Durban street circuit due to construction for the 2010 FIFA World Cup, the South African round was postponed until 2011. A Spanish event at the brand new Circuito de Navarra was proposed as a replacement for Durban on the calendar, the 3.31 km temporary street circuit incorporated long fast straights along NMR Ave, and Suncoast Boulevard, a slow hairpin on Snell Parade and three challenging chicanes. The street circuit and event infrastructure was designed and Project Managed by D3 Motorsport Development, famous for the Surfers Paradise Street circuit in Australia
26.
Kyalami
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Kyalami Racing Circuit is a motor racing circuit located in Midrand, Gauteng province, South Africa. The circuit has used for Grand Prix and Formula One races and has hosted the South African Grand Prix many times. In recent years, the surrounding the circuit has developed into a residential and commercial suburb of Johannesburg. The original, sweeping circuit was in use from 1961 until political sanctions eliminated the Grand Prix after the 1985 race, jukskei Sweep was heavily modified to create the entrance into the bend before the then newly built Pit lane and start/finish straight. Formula One abandoned the rebuilt circuit in 1993 after just two races and a bankruptcy on the part of the promoter and it hosted the South African motorcycle Grand Prix until 1992. Kyalami came under new management and 2008 saw the 50th Anniversary of the 9-Hour revival being held at Kyalami with golden oldies like David Piper, on 6 June 2014, it was announced that Kyalami would be auctioned off on 24 July without reserve. On 24 July 2014, it was auctioned off for R205 million, the winning bidder was Porsche South Africa
27.
Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca
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Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca is a paved road racing track in central California used for both auto racing and motorcycle racing, built in 1957 near both Salinas and Monterey, California, United States. The racetrack is 2.238 miles long, with a 180 feet elevation change and its eleven turns are highlighted by the circuits signature turn, the downhill-plunging Corkscrew at Turns 8 and 8A. A variety of racing, exhibition, and entertainment events are held at the raceway, the name Laguna Seca is Spanish for dry lake, the area where the track now lies was once a lake, and the course was built around the dry lake bed. After the course was reconfigured, two ponds were added. The earliest development of the area occurred in 1867 with the founding of the nearby Laguna Seca Ranch. Since 1974, the property was deeded over to the Monterey County Parks Department, the first race, held on November 9,1957, was won by Pete Lovely driving a Ferrari. Changes include the addition of the infield area in 1988 extending the track from its original 1. The original media center was demolished in 2006 to make way for additional room in Turn 1. Also in 2006, the hump at the top of the Rahal Straight was flattened to accommodate the MotoGP riders, remnants of the old configuration can still be seen from the parking lot between turns two and five. They are found underneath a road leading to the area for entrant trailers. Also the straight that runs between Turn 6 and Turn 7 has been renamed the Rahal Straight after four-time consecutive Champ Car race winner Bobby Rahal. A Champ Car World Series weekend had been a prominent event from 1983 through 2004, on the last lap of the 1996 CART race, Alex Zanardi passed Bryan Herta on the inside of the Corkscrew to take the victory. Uruguayan driver Gonzalo Rodríguez died during the session of the 1999 CART race after crashing at the same corner. Because of the incident, runoff was installed at the end of the Rahal Straight, Champ Car announced on September 11,2007 that they would be returning the Northern California race to Laguna Seca from San Jose over the May 16–18 weekend in 2008. But the subsequent merger of Champ Car and IndyCar resulted in the race being canceled, the track is also the site of the annual Rolex Monterey Motorsports Reunion, formerly known as the Monterey Historic Automobile Races. The event features an eclectic mixture of race cars on the course. Each year features a different marque, considered one of the two greatest historic racing events, attendance often rivals, or surpasses the professional racing events listed above. The tracks primary corporate sponsor is Mazda, who some of their own events there
28.
EuroSpeedway Lausitz
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The EuroSpeedway Lausitz is a race track located near Klettwitz in the state of Brandenburg in Eastern Germany, near the borders of Poland and the Czech Republic. It was originally named Lausitzring as it is located in the region the Germans call Lausitz, the EuroSpeedway has been in use for motor racing since 2000. Among other series, DTM and Superbike World Championship take place there annually, the EuroSpeedway has a feature which is unique in continental Europe, a high-speed oval race track, as used in the United States by NASCAR and IndyCar. The 3.2 km tri-oval was used twice in 2001 and 2003 by open seater CART races named German 500, plus a few British SCSA races. In 2005 and 2006, the German Formula Three Championship held races at the oval, with a pole position lap speed of 251.761 km/h. As far back as 1986, in the former socialist East Germany, in the late 1990s, this idea was taken up again in order to build a replacement for the AVUS in Berlin. Winding in the infield of the high-speed tri-oval, there is a road race track for automobile. The stands around the tri-oval have a capacity of 120,000, while the main grandstands have 25,000 seats, and unlike many circuits. Also a test oval with long straights and steeply banked corners is located next to the track, all tracks can be connected to form an 11 km long endurance racing course, but this option was not yet used for a major event, but as a test track capability. Like all modern tracks, the EuroSpeedway was built to the highest possible safety standards, however, in its first year of operation there were three serious accidents at the track. On 26 April 2001 former Formula One driver Michele Alboreto was killed testing an Audi R8 Le Mans Prototype racecar. On 3 May the same year a track marshal was killed when he was hit by a touring car during a test session. On 15 September 2001 Alex Zanardi, two-time champion of the American CART series, the official EuroSpeedway anthem Speed Kings was recorded by the veteran East German band Puhdys in 2000. The last concert of German hard rock band Böhse Onkelz took place on 17 and 18 June 2005 at the EuroSpeedway Lausitz under the name Vaya Con Tioz and it was the biggest open air show by a German band ever. On 9 October 2005 EuroSpeedway played host to the A1 Grand Prix series on its road course, interestingly the fastest lap of the meeting by Frenchman Nicolas Lapierre was 0.45 seconds slower than the lap record for the 4.345 km circuit held by Heikki Kovalainen. EuroSpeedway played host to Round 6 of the 2010 Red Bull Air Race World Championship, as the last two events of the 2010 Championship were cancelled, the 2011 series was cancelled as well. The series then suffered an overall three-year hiatus before returning in late February 2014. Official website of EuroSpeedway e-Tracks, EuroSpeedway Lausitz
29.
Sentul International Circuit
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Sentul International Circuit is a 120, 000-capacity permanent motor racing circuit located in Babakan Madang, Bogor, near the Toll Gate of Jakarta towards Bogor, Indonesia. Its pit facilities have easy access to the Jagorawi Toll Road, the current circuit is a truncated version of the original design. Approximately 40% shorter than the original, the circuit runs clockwise and is used for motorcycle racing. Sentul is a simple, smooth, broad track with large runoff areas, enabling non-bumpy. Sentul has a 900-metre main straight that allows speeds of up to 300 kilometres per hour before slowing for the right-hand Turn 1, the only truly high-speed corner at Sentul is Turn 2. The fastest driver on four-wheel machines can do 220 kilometres per hour, and they can take Turn 2 as a complex S bend when they get out from the tighter Turn 1 at around 140 kilometres per hour. The wide corners allow good passing with various racing lines, Sentul is located in Bogor Regency. It is an area and a bit cooler than the tropical city of Jakarta. However, the track can still get extremely hot under direct sunlight and it is also humid and wet as well. Such characteristics cause distress to European tuners, riders and drivers who are accustomed to cooler climates, Sentul International Circuit was designed to meet the Formula One motor racing standard and was the first serious attempt outside Japan to meet such a standard in Asia. The vision came to Indonesia around 1990 when Hutomo Mandala Putra, motor racing enthusiast and son of President Suharto, Racing had previously been held at the short, tight and relatively dangerous Ancol Circuit, on the Java Sea coast in north Jakarta. In August 1993, the circuit was opened by Suharto. While Sentul International Circuit was intended to be Indonesias Formula Two showcase to the world, its tight corners, Sentul has been used for the Superbike World Championship between 1994 and 1997 and the FIM Road Racing World Championship Grand Prix in 1996 and 1997. The 1997 Asian Financial Crisis worsened the situation and made motor racing an unaffordable luxury for many Indonesian enthusiasts who had been participating, the facility has also come to be overshadowed by the Sepang International Circuit, built in 1999, which possessed a superior track layout and facilities. In the mid-2000s, the circuit held two rounds of the A1 Grand Prix of Nations, in the 2005–06 and 2006–07 seasons respectively, in 2008, the GP2 Asia Series raced at Sentul. A Superstars Series race was planned in 2012 and an Asian Le Mans Series race in 2013, motoGP is set to return to Indonesia in 2017, dependent on finding the 15 billion rupiah required to get the circuit up to FIM Grade 1
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Sepang International Circuit
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The Sepang International Circuit is a motorsport race track in Sepang, Selangor, Malaysia. It is located near Kuala Lumpur International Airport, approximately 45 km south of the capital city Kuala Lumpur and it is the venue used for the Formula One Malaysian Grand Prix, Malaysian Motorcycle Grand Prix, Malaysia Merdeka Endurance Race and other major motorsport events. The circuit was designed by German designer Hermann Tilke, who would subsequently design F1 venues in Shanghai, Sakhir, Istanbul, Valencia, Marina Bay, Yas Marina, Yeongnam, Greater Noida and Austin. The circuit was inaugurated by the 4th Prime Minister of Malaysia Tun Dr Mahathir Bin Mohamad on 7 March 1999 at 20,30 MST. He subsequently went on to inaugurate the first Moto GP Malaysian Grand Prix on 20 April 1999, in October 2016 it was muted that the Sepang circuit may be dropped from the Formula One series due to dwindling ticket sales. The main circuit, normally raced in a direction, is 5.543 kilometres long. The layout is unusual, with a very long back straight separated from the pit straight by just one very tight hairpin. Other configurations of the Sepang circuit can also be used, the north circuit is also raced in a clockwise direction. It is basically the first half of the main circuit, the course turns back towards the pit straight after turn 6 and is 2.71 kilometres long in total. The south circuit is the half of the racecourse. The back straight of the circuit becomes the pit straight when the south circuit is in use. Also run clockwise, this circuit is 2.61 km in length, Sepang International Circuit also features kart racing and motocross facilities. Sepang starts with a long pit straight where the DRS zone exists – it is important to get an exit out of the last corner to gain as much speed as possible. Turn 1 is a long, slow corner taken in second gear. You brake incredibly late and lose speed gradually as you file round the corner, similar to Shanghais first turn, Turn 1 leads straight into Turn 2, a tight left hairpin which goes downhill quite significantly. The first two corners are quite bumpy, making it hard to put power onto the track, Turn 3 is a long flat out right hander which leads into Turn 4 – known locally as the Langkawi Curve – a second gear, right-angle right-hander. Turns 5 and 6 make up an incredibly high-speed, long chicane that hurts tyres and it is locally known as the Genting Curve. Turns 7 and 8 make up a long, medium-speed, double-apex right hander, Turn 9 is a very slow left-hand hairpin, similar to turn two but uphill
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Shanghai International Circuit
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The Shanghai International Circuit is a motorsport race track, situated in the Jiading, Shanghai, Peoples Republic of China. The circuit is best known as the venue for the annual Formula 1 Chinese Grand Prix, the 2008 MotoGP race was the last one on this circuit, as the FIM didnt select the racetrack for the provisional calendar of 2009. This is due to overcrowding problems in the circuit, partly due to location of the circuit, areas around turns 1,8 and 14 have been sinking, and therefore the circuit had to be inspected before the 2011 event took place. The Chinese Grand Prix attracted 260,000 spectators in its year in 2004 with a slight 10,000 increase in 2005. On Feb 18,2011, Reuters reported words from the Chinese Grand Prix organizers said Shanghai has extended the deal to host the Chinese Grand Prix to 2018 despite falling attendance. Reuters reported words from Yiping Chen, deputy director of the Shanghai Sports Bureau, Reuters reported prices for prime seats range would decrease from 3, 580-3,980 yuan in 2010 to 1, 980-3,280 yuan in 2011. On the same day, AFP reported that the Shanghai City government will keep open a line to the race track to boost spectator numbers from April 15–17,2011. In common with other new Formula One circuits, it was designed by Hermann Tilke, and also features his trademark track feature. Current-generation F1 cars can easily surpass 300 km/h on the straight between corners 13 and 14. The track layout was inspired from the Chinese character shang the first character in the name of the city Shanghai, the whole circuit plus seating areas and other areas for spectators, covers a total area of 5.3 km². Turns 1 and 2 make up a very long right-hand curve which leads immediately into turns 3 and 4, One and two are far more difficult - a lift on entry followed by various taps of the throttle and brakes are needed so the car maintains balance throughout. It also becomes blind towards the middle of the corner, three and four are nowhere near as difficult but a good exit is needed to gain speed down the following straight and through turn 5. The complex of turns 1-4 makes up the first of two snails on the circuit, the other being turns 11-13, turn 6 is a second gear, right-handed hairpin with plentiful run-off. Turns 7 and 8 make up a high speed chicane - the left-right complex sees a constant G-force of 3, turns 9 and 10 immediately follow - two slow left-handers which require a good exit to gain speed down the next straight. Turns 11 and 12 effectively make up a slow left-right chicane where the use of kerbs are important, turn 13 is a very long right-hander which becomes less and less tight, and a very good exit is important as the longest straight currently in Formula One follows. The total length of the circuit is 5.451 km, the lap record was set by Ferraris Michael Schumacher in 2004. He completed one lap of the circuit in 1,32.238
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Sydney Motorsport Park
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Sydney Motorsport Park is a motorsport circuit located on Brabham Drive, Eastern Creek, New South Wales, Australia, adjacent to the Western Sydney International Dragway. It was built and is owned by the New South Wales Government and is operated by the Australian Racing Drivers Club, the circuit is the only permanent track in Australia with an FIA Grade 2 International license and is licensed for both cars and motorcycles. The development of circuit was approved in 1989 and construction soon after. However, construction was delayed by weather and debates over land ownership. In 1991, the consortium formed to fund the circuit suffered financial problems, the pit facilities provide fifty garages with direct access to the paddock area and a covered 4, 000-seat grandstand overlooks the finish line, providing a view of the majority of the circuit. Events are held at the circuit on most weekends during the year, on 28 April 2008, it was announced that Apex Circuit Design Ltd. In early 2011, the circuit received funding for a $9 million upgrade, with the New South Wales Government providing $7 million and the Australian Racing Drivers Club funding the other $2 million. The upgrade reconfigured the circuit into four layouts, with two able to be operated at the time, with a total length of 4.5 kilometres. The upgrade also included a pit lane facility to cater for the new configuration. Work on the began in June 2011, with a new piece of road joining turns four. This link road, finished in October 2011, created the new Druitt Circuit, the 830-metre extension on the south-eastern part of the circuit was completed in May 2012 to create the new Amaroo Circuit. On 21 May 2012, the circuit was renamed from Eastern Creek International Raceway to Sydney Motorsport Park, construction of the new pit lane between turns four and five also began at this time. The race remained at the circuit until 1996 before returning to Phillip Island in 1997, the circuit has also hosted rounds of the Australian Superbike Championship. The Australian round of the A1 Grand Prix championship was held at Sydney Motorsport Park from the 2005–06 season to the 2007–08 season. In the early 1990s, the circuit hosted the Winfield Triple Challenge. The circuit first hosted a round of the ATCC in 1992 and held a round every year, excluding 1998 and 2006. Further to this, the hosted the season-ending Grand Finale in 2003 and 2004, with Marcos Ambrose winning the round. In 2009 the circuit was dropped in favour of the Sydney 500 on the Sydney Olympic Park Street Circuit, the circuit returned to the V8 Supercars calendar in 2012 after V8 Supercars failed to secure a second international event
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Bruce McLaren Motorsport Park
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Bruce McLaren Motorsport Park is a motorsports circuit located in Broadlands Road, Taupo, New Zealand. It is owned and operated by MIT Development Ltd, the circuit is considered to be the best facility of its type in New Zealand, and the only circuit in the country with an FIA Grade 2 rating. The circuit was an upgrade from a 1.4 km Taupo Car Clubs circuit to the new 3.5 km international layout in 2006, the Motorsort Park was completed in 2006 at the cost of NZ$13 million. It features driver training facilities, a business park with 13 first floor corporate suites. On 21 January 2007 Taupo Motorsport Park hosted the race in the 2006–07 A1 Grand Prix season and on 20 January 2008 it hosted the fifth race in the 2007–08 A1 Grand Prix season. In order to create more overtaking opportunities, a chicane was introduced at the end of the straight. On 25 January 2009 Taupo Motorsport Park hosted the race in the 2008–09 A1 Grand Prix season. Due to the tight ‘s’ bend close to the start cause collisions in the pass, however, on 8 May 2008 Newstalk ZB reported that the motorsport park is NZ$3 million in debt and the owners are seeking equity to help keep their business afloat. The circuit was renamed Bruce McLaren Motorsport Park on 26 November 2015, as a tribute to former Formula One driver, the renaming occurred as Taupo directors announced they would be rebuilding the circuit to maintain its FIA Grade 2 status. The track includes four alternative configurations, two separate pit areas, a pit lane complex with 32 ground floor pit garages that is currently under construction. The track also features an NHRA standard dragstrip with full capacity viewing for 10,000, A1 Team Irelands driver Adam Carroll commented that the track got little bumps and is technical and tight
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Circuit Park Zandvoort
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Circuit Park Zandvoort is a motorsport race track located in the dunes north of Zandvoort, Netherlands, near the North Sea coast line. There were plans for races at Zandvoort before World War II, however, a permanent race track was not constructed until after the war, using communications roads built by the occupying German army. Instead, it was 1927 Le Mans winner, S. C. H. Sammy Davis who was brought in as a track design advisor in July 1946 although the layout was partly dictated by the existing roads, the circuit was inaugurated on August 7,1948. The following year the race was called the Zandvoort Grand Prix, the 1952 Dutch Grand Prix was a round of the World Drivers Championship for the first time. There was no GP at Zandvoort in 1954, but 1955 saw the first proper Formula One race counting for the World Championship, in January 1987 this plan got the necessary green light when it was formally approved by the Noord-Holland Provincial Council. However, only a couple of months later a new problem arose, again the track, owned by the municipality of Zandvoort, was in danger of being permanently lost for motorsports. However, a new operating company, the Stichting Exploitatie Circuit Park, was formed and started work at the realization of the reconstruction plans. In 1995, CPZ got the A Status of the Dutch government and this project was finished in 2001 when, after the track was redesigned to a 4.3 kilometers long circuit and a new pits building was realized, a new grandstand was situated along the long straight. One of the events that is held at the circuit, along with DTM and A1GP, is the RTL Masters of Formula 3. A noise restriction order was responsible for this event moving to the Belgian Circuit Zolder for 2007 and 2008, however, the race returned to its historical home in 2009. Circuit Park Zandvoort played host to the first race in the 2006/07 season of A1 Grand Prix from 29 September–1 October 2006, the Dutch round moved to TT Circuit Assen in 2010. A1GP bankrupted before its season and the Dutch round was replaced with Superleague Formula. The circuit gained popularity because of its fast, sweeping corners such as Scheivlak as well as the Tarzanbocht hairpin at the end of the start/finish straight, Tarzanbocht is the most famous corner in the circuit. Since there is a camber in the corner, it provides excellent overtaking opportunities and it is possible to pass around the outside as well as the easier inside lane. On the other hand, many different stories about Tarzan Corner are known, in the history of the circuit, several fatal accidents have occurred. In August 1959 a 26th World Championships Road Race was held here, andré Darrigade of France won the 180 mi race, Tom Simpson was 4th. Since 2008, the course has been used as the venue for the Runners World Zandvoort Circuit Run, the 2010 edition of the race attracted Lornah Kiplagat, a multiple world champion, who won the ladies 5 km race. May 2013 starting 3 p. m. a 24-hours cycle race open for public for soloists, June 2015 the Cycling Zandvoort - 24-uurs race over 4307-m-laps took place
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Zhuhai International Circuit
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Zhuhai International Circuit is located at Jin Ding town in Zhuhai City, Guangdong Province, China. The circuit is designed by Australian company Kinhill Engineers Pty Ltd, the project manager for the project was Michael McDonough. The first international race held at the circuit was the BPR Global GT Series, the circuit soon became the hotbed of local motorsports with teams from Hong Kong and Macau setting up their bases inside the circuit garages. The original circuit contained 16 corners, but corners 7,8 and 9 were eliminated after a track change request from FIM and made into one corner. The circuit is 4.3 kilometres long and has 14 turns,9 of them are right turns and 5 are left turns and the circuit runs clockwise only. The shorter straight is 500 metres long, the longest straight is the start/finish straight which is 900 metres long and 14 metres wide at its widest. The most successful driver on the circuit is the best one who can manage their brake wear, Zhuhai International Circuit is an FIA Grade II certified circuit. The fastest qualifying lap ever at the circuit was set by a Lola-Zytek A1 Grand Prix car on the round on December 16,2007 during the 2007-08 A1 Grand Prix season. It was driven by Michael Ammermüller and managed a lap of 1,23.203, however, this is not considered the lap record since lap records are taken from racing laps and not qualifying. The fastest unofficial lap ever at the circuit was set by a 2007 Panoz DP01 Champ Car on November 30,2006 and it was driven by Roberto Moreno, it managed a lap of 1,23.612 during a demonstration run. The fastest GT1 lap time is set by Porsche 911 GT1 with Porsche AG team in 1996 BPR Global GT Series Round 11 Zhuhai 4hrs, the fastest lap ever on a Motorcycle was set at Pan Delta 1000cc Superbike race was taken by splitlath team. Zhuhai International Circuit Co Ltd is also a prominent motorsport event organizer and promoter in China, Zhuhai International Circuit is the promoter of the China Superbike Championship, established in 2007 and sanctioned by the China Motorcycle Sports Association, CMSA. ZIC also organizes the Circuit Hero and Circuit Hero GT race series, the Hong Kong Touring Car Championship and the Macau Touring Car Championship both run the majority of their races at ZIC since they began. The Asian Festival of Speed was held at the circuit from October 20,2006 to October 22,2006, AFOS has been held at the circuit many times since its inception in 1994. The Asian Formula Three Championship is also hosted by the circuit annually, in addition, the FIM Asia Road Racing Championship race at ZIC in December annually. ZIC was included in the provisional 1999 F1 calendar, but the circuit subsequently lost its place in the calendar after failing to meet the international standards set by the FIA. F1 subsequently races in Shanghai International Circuit, in May 2004, the Endurance World Championship Zhuhai 6 Hours race was held at the circuit. This was the first time a motorcycle race was held at the circuit
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Brainerd International Raceway
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Brainerd International Raceway is a 3. 1-mile dragstrip with stands with a capacity of 20,000. The complex also includes a course and kart track near Brainerd, Minnesota. The raceway hosts the National Hot Rod Associations Lucas Oil Nationals and it is a popular racetrack for the Trans Am Series. The spectator seating capacity of the circuit is 20,000, opened in 1968 as Donnybrooke Speedway there were no safety barriers, run-out areas, grandstands or even restrooms. George Montgomery and Bud Stall cleared the racetrack through an area on the south side of North Long Lake. With the help of St Paul Sports Promoter Dennis Scanlan It hosted a 2 heat USAC Indy Car race in 1969, the heats were won by Gordon Johncock and Dan Gurney. In 1973 Jerry Hansen bought the track and renamed it Brainerd International Raceway and it played host to CanAm races in 1970,1971, and 1972. These races were won by, respectively, Denny Hulme, Peter Revson, in the summer of 2006, Jed and Kristi Copham of Forest Lake, Minnesota, became the new owners of Brainerd International Raceway. Brainerd International Raceway was damaged during a thunderstorm that rocked most of the state of Minnesota on July 12,2015. Brainerd International Raceway consists of 2 road tracks and 1 drag strip, Brainerd International Raceway maintains the original name of the now 40-year-old course. The course is used for automotive and motorcycle racing, the 3. 1-mile Donnybrooke Road Course has 10 turns and is considered wide – the main straight is 60 feet wide. There is essentially no elevation change, BIR is a high-speed course, vehicles can reach speeds of nearly 180 mph and take the slowest corners around 80 mph. There are wide areas at most of the corners, which makes BIR’s road course extremely safe. The 2009 racing season was the first for the 2.5 mile course which was completed the previous summer, Turn 1 on the 2. 5-mile Competition Road Course is the same as Turn 1 on the three-mile road course. Turn 1 is a narrow but very high-speed banked right-hand 60-degree turn, turns 1 through 8 of the original 3. 1-mile road course are used for the new circuit. In all, the Competition Road Course features 13 turns and very little elevation change, the dragstrip dates back to 1969, when BIR converted the mile-long straightaway on its road course to a drag strip and hosted an NHRA Divisional Points Race. In 1977, BIR hosted the Crown Auto Funny Car Championships and it was reconstructed in 2005, adding a 700-foot concrete launch pad and new asphalt for the remaining 600 feet was installed. Tony Schumacher, set the record for top fuel dragsters with a 337.58 mph run in 2005
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Daytona International Speedway
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Daytona International Speedway is a race track in Daytona Beach, Florida, United States. Since opening in 1959, it has been the home of the Daytona 500, in addition to NASCAR, the track also hosts races of ARCA, AMA Superbike, USCC, SCCA, and Motocross. The tracks 180-acre infield includes the 29-acre Lake Lloyd, which has hosted powerboat racing, the speedway is owned and operated by International Speedway Corporation. The track was built in 1959 by NASCAR founder William Bill France and his banked design permitted higher speeds and gave fans a better view of the cars. Lights were installed around the track in 1998, and today it is the third-largest single lit outdoor sports facility, the speedway has been renovated three times, with the infield renovated in 2004 and the track repaved in 1978 and 2010. On January 22,2013, the track unveiled artist depictions of a renovated speedway, on July 5,2013, ground was broken on the project that removed backstretch seating and completely redevelop the frontstretch seating. The renovation to the speedway was constructed by Design-Builder Barton Malow Company in partnership with Rossetti Architects, after the renovations were completed, the tracks grandstands include 101,000 permanent seats with the ability to increase permanent seating to 125,000. The project was finished before the start of Speedweeks in 2016, NASCAR founder William France Sr. began planning for the track in 1953 as a way to promote the series, which at the time was racing on the Daytona Beach Road Course. France met with Daytona Beach engineer Charles Moneypenny to discuss his plans for the speedway and he wanted the track to have the highest banking possible to allow the cars to reach high speeds and to give fans a better view of the cars on track. Moneypenny traveled to Detroit, Michigan to visit the Ford Proving Grounds which had a high-speed test track with banked corners, Ford shared their engineering reports of the track with Moneypenny, providing the needed details of how to transition the pavement from a flat straightaway to a banked corner. France took the plans to the Daytona Beach city commission, who supported his idea, the city commission agreed to lease the 447-acre parcel of land adjacent to Daytona Beach Municipal Airport to Frances corporation for $10,000 a year over a 50-year period. France then began working on building funding for the project and found support from a Texas oil millionaire, Murchison loaned France $600,000 along with the construction equipment necessary to build the track. France was also able to secure funding from Pepsi-Cola, General Motors designer Harley Earl, ground broke on construction of the 2. 5-mile speedway on November 25,1957. To build the high banking, crews had to excavate over a million yards of soil from the tracks infield. 22 tons of lime mortar had to be brought in to form the tracks binding base, because of the extreme degree of banking, Moneypenny had to come up with a way to pave the incline. He connected the paving equipment to bulldozers anchored at the top of the banking and this would allow the paving equipment to pave the banking without slipping or rolling down the incline. Moneypenny subsequently patented his method and later designed Talladega Superspeedway. By December 1958, France had begun to run out of money, the first practice run on the new track began on February 6,1959
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Homestead-Miami Speedway
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Homestead-Miami Speedway is a motor racing track located in Homestead, Florida. Since 2002, Homestead-Miami Speedway has hosted the race of the season in all three of NASCARs series, the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series, Xfinity Series, and the Camping World Truck Series. The Xfinity Series has held its races at Homestead since 1995. The speedway was constructed, with the efforts of promoter Ralph Sanchez, groundbreaking began August 24,1993, exactly one year after the hurricane. It opened in November 1995 with a NASCAR Busch Series race, since 2002 NASCAR has marketed the seasons-ending Homestead races as Ford Championship Weekend. In the spring of 1996, the CART series held its first race there, the track reflects the art deco district of nearby Miami Beach with its liberal use of colors such as aqua, purple and silver. Though the track itself has been considered to be aesthetically pleasing from the outset, the track opened as a four-turn, rectangular-oval, based on the Indianapolis Motor Speedways layout, coincidental considering that circuit and Miami Beach were developed by Carl G. Fisher. However, due to its distance, the track was not able to maintain the racing characteristics of the Indianapolis Motor Speedway. Instead, the sharp, flat turns and aprons made passing difficult, the geometry also created unfavorably severe crash angles. In 1996, track management attempted to correct the problems by widening the aprons of the turns by as much as 24 feet, the movie Super Speedway was shot at the speedway before the track was reconfigured to an oval. In the summer of 1997, an $8.2 million reconfiguration project changed the turns from a rectangle to a traditional, in 2003, the track was reconfigured once again. The turns were changed from flat to steep variable banking. In 2005, lights were installed to allow night racing for the first time, the renovations were praised by fans, and the track has produced a number of close finishes, including 2005s last-lap battle between Greg Biffle and Mark Martin. On March 26,2006 Indy Racing League driver Paul Dana suffered fatal injuries in the session before the race when he was involved in a high-speed collision with Ed Carpenter at over 215 mph. The Indy Car series would discontinue its Homestead race while the Rolex Series later changed its Homestead race to an earlier in the season. Behind the main grandstand is the Homestead RC Raceway for radio controlled cars, the CART measured for the inaugural race in 1996 a length of 1.517 miles. This length was referenced to the old rectangular layout, in 1998 was the track length remeasured to 1.502 miles This length was also used for timing and scoring till last CART race in 2000. This length was referenced to the flat paperclip-layout, the NASCAR timing and scoring use a length of 1.50 miles
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Lime Rock Park
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Lime Rock Park is a natural-terrain motorsport road racing venue located in Lakeville, Connecticut, United States, a hamlet in the town of Salisbury, in the states northwest corner. Built in 1956, it is the nations oldest continuously operating road racing venue, the track is owned by Skip Barber, a former race car driver who started the Skip Barber Racing School in 1975. It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 2009, the first race, a mix of G-Production class and an MG class, was held on April 28,1957. The winner of the G-Production was Ted Sprigg in an Alfa Romeo Giulietta, the winner of the MG class was Charles Callanan in an MG TC. In 1959, Lime Rock hosted the Little Le Mans race, won by Charles Callanan, in 2008, the track was re-paved and two new corner complexes were added. The track has a following, though it did face some resistance from the local community shortly after it opened. In 1959, the Lime Rock Protective Association, with support from the nearby Trinity Episcopal Church, the court issued a permanent injunction against Sunday racing, and its decision was upheld by the Connecticut Supreme Court. While restrictive, the carefully crafted injunction was also enabling and it preserved the tracks right to conduct unmuffled sports car racing on Fridays and Saturdays, plus testing on Tuesdays and other operating benefits. The injunction stands to this day, the track has featured many well-known racers including Paul Newman, who supported his own Newman-Haas team with Bob Sharp, Mario Andretti, Stirling Moss, Dan Gurney, Sam Posey, and Mark Donohue. The Rolex Sports Car Series, American Le Mans Series, IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship have used a configuration which included the chicane at turn five and West Bend. Following the 2008 reconstruction, Lime Rocks operations people measured all four possible configurations, the classic configuration is seven turns, while the three optional layouts are eight, nine and ten turns, respectively. National Register of Historic Places listings in Litchfield County, Connecticut Lime Rock Park website Skip Barber Racing School
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Meadowlands Sports Complex
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In the mid-1960s, civic leaders in New Jersey began calling for a sports complex in the New Jersey Meadowlands that would be able to lure a National Football League team from New York City. The New Jersey Sports and Exposition Authority Law was passed by the New Jersey Legislature in 1971, the first chairman of the NJSEA was David A. Sonny Werblin, former president of the NFLs New York Jets. By years end, Werblin had secured a deal for the New York Giants, ground was broken on Giants Stadium and the Meadowlands Racetrack on November 19,1972. To accommodate the new facility, access roads were improved, routes 3 and 20 also received improvements. On September 1,1976, the Meadowlands Racetrack became the first complex venue to open, the track drew a capacity crowd of 42,133 for its initial date. Giants Stadium opened on October 10,1976, as 76,042 fans watched the New York Giants lose to the Dallas Cowboys, by 1977, plans were in the works to expand the complex. A new arena was to be built on the side of Route 20 from the stadium and racetrack, connected by vehicle ramps. Brendan Byrne Arena, named for the governor, opened July 2,1981. The arena was renamed for its sponsor, Continental Airlines, in early 1996. Work came to a halt in 2009, and Triple Five, Giants Stadium closed in at the end of the 2009 NFL season and demolition started immediately. In September 2010, MetLife Stadium, then known as New Meadowlands Stadium, opened for its first game, a commuter train line and a training center for the Giants also opened at the same time. MetLife bought the rights for the stadium and the entire complex in August 2011. In addition to the three venues, the complex also hosts events in the MetLife Stadium parking lot, State Fair Meadowlands began in 1986 and has been operated by State Fair of Belleville since 2003. The parking lot is also the home of a flea market. The NJSEA hires in-house security and emergency services staff to serve the venues at the Sports Complex. Law enforcement is provided by the New Jersey State Police Sports Complex Unit. MetLife Stadium is the stadium for the New York Giants. The stadium opened in 2010, following the closing and demolition of the Giants, MetLife Stadium hosted Super Bowl XLVIII in 2014
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Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course
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Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course is a road course auto racing facility located in Troy Township, Morrow County, Ohio, United States, just outside the village of Lexington. The track opened as a 15-turn,2.4 mile road circuit run clockwise, the back portion of the track allows speeds approaching 180 mph. A separate starting line is located on the backstretch to allow for safer rolling starts, the regular start/finish line is located on the pit straight. In 1990, the track underwent a refurbishment, a new retaining wall was built, the entire track was resurfaced, widened, and concrete was paved in the apexes of the turns to prevent asphalt deterioration. In addition, a straightaway was paved through the chicane, allowing for two different track layouts, the original 2. 4-mile circuit, and a new 13-turn,2.258 mile circuit, in 1990, the CART series began utilizing the 2. 258-mile layout. In 2006, a major refurbishment saw several improvements. The entire circuit was repaved, and the patches in the turn apexes were removed. A new motorcycle short course was created by connecting turn one with the backstretch, the additional layouts allow simultaneous use of the multiple course, for instructional and competitive uses. The improvements also included a facility, that has since been closed. There is grandstand seating for 10,000 spectators, and three observation mounds alongside the track raise the capacity to over 75,000, the track was opened in 1962 by Les Griebling and several Mansfield-area businessmen as a location for weekend sports car racing. In 1982, Mid-Ohio was purchased by Jim Trueman, a road racer. Trueman added permanent grandstands, amphitheater-style seating, garages with spectator balconies, a media and hospitality center, underground tunnels. In 1990, the track underwent a refurbishment, a new retaining wall was built, the entire track was resurfaced, widened, and concrete was paved in the apexes of the turns to prevent asphalt deterioration. In addition, a straightaway was paved through the chicane, allowing for two different track layouts, the original 2. 4-mile circuit, and a new 13-turn,2.258 mile circuit, in 2006, the track again underwent extensive renovation. The track and pit lane were completely resurfaced and connectors were added to the tracks famed Keyhole section to allow for three separate road course configurations and these changes have resulted in a faster, safer, more competitive and attractive facility for drivers, riders and race fans. The sports car course operates from April through November each year, during this time, the facility is host for a number of nationally sanctioned race weekends, all of which are open to the public. Mid-Ohio has hosted closed course events for kart racing events since the late 1960s sanctioned by I. K. F, & W. K. A. and run by the Dart kart Club with up to 400 entries attending. Karts use the track with the chicane
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Alexandre Premat